Frequency of device-associated infections in intensive care units

Background: Health care associated infections (HAIs) are a class of infections that infect patients during hospital admissions and receive medical services. These infections occurs within 48 to 72 hours of admission and up to 6 weeks after discharge. Surveillance of device-associated infections (DAIs) in intensive care units (ICUs) is substantial in planning healthcare strategies. This study was conducted to determine the device-associated infections' burden and antimicrobial resistance patterns. Methods: In this descriptive-analytic study, three common device-associated infections included central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLA-BSI), ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP), and catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CA-UTI), were assessed in intensive care units of Besat Hospital in Hamedan from April 2017 to April 2018. In order to determine the incidence of device-associated infections, the number of device-associated infection cases was calculated during the study period and divided into the number of device-days used. The device-days included all days of exposure to that device (vascular catheter, endotracheal tube (ventilator), or urinary catheter) in all patients in the study population. Results: Out of 1806 intensive care unit admitted cases, 168 patients (9.3%) were device-associated infection with distribution of 92 cases (55%) of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), 56 cases (34%) of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CA-UTI) and 20 cases (11%) of central line-associated bloodstream infection (CL-BSI). The incidence of VAP, CA-UTI and CL-BSI was 44.7, 17.5, and 21.61 days, respectively. The most organisms were Acinetobacter (27.4%), Klebsiella (18.3%), Escherichia coli (E. coli) (15.4%). Vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE) was 75%. Acinetobacter resistance to colistin and carbapenem was 16.8%. About half of Pseudomonas isolates were resistant to meropenem. Conclusion: According to the present findings of this study, a high incidence of device-associated infections and resistant organisms in our intensive care units were documented, which represents a need to reinforce the preventive and control programs. Various results in different studies can be due to differences in the level of health care in different centers and countries.